Land under review

Expensive buy-to-let apartments: The ball is in the court of auditors’ court

Numerous residents of the Messequartier in Graz are affected

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

After ten years, numerous customers of the Ennstal Wohnbaugenossenschaft (ENW) are said to be paying tens of thousands of euros more for their hire-purchase apartment than contractually agreed. Now the Federal Audit Office is getting involved. It is examining the province of Styria to see whether it is properly monitoring the non-profit organization's use of subsidies.

The buyer of a lease-purchase apartment was supposed to pay the Ennstal Wohnbau cooperative around 100,000 euros more than agreed in the contract after ten years of rent so that the apartment would ultimately become her property. This was not only the case for her, but also for numerous other Styrians, as we have reported several times. And this despite the fact that the non-profit ENW received subsidies from the state at the time. The condition for the subsidy was that the purchase was processed according to the "Styrian model", which required a contractually guaranteed fixed price. 

Funding requirements ignored
Nevertheless, ENW ignored this, arguing that the horrendous price adjustments were due to changes in the Housing Non-Profit Act. Numerous court proceedings are ongoing, and so far ENW has always lost out. It was recently announced that the Higher Regional Court of Graz also ruled in favor of the tenants affected in a test case brought by the Styrian Chamber of Labor: there is a contractual agreement that must be complied with. 

The duty to supervise housing developers is of fundamental importance to the province of Styria. Not least because millions in subsidies flow to the associations every year.

Stefan Herrmann (FPÖ)

The then Provincial Councillor Hans Seitinger (ÖVP) always claimed that his hands were tied and that he could not interfere in non-profit building associations. An argument that has always annoyed the opposition in the person of Werner Murgg (KPÖ), Stefan Hermann (FPÖ) and Lambert Schönleitner (Greens). "The duty to supervise housing developers is of fundamental importance for the province of Styria. Not least because millions in subsidies flow to the associations every year. For 2023, disbursements amounting to 277.2 million euros are planned in the global budget for housing construction. A not insignificant part of this will go to the housing associations," says FPÖ Deputy Chairman Stefan Hermann.

The non-profit housing developers are still strongly influenced by and close to black and red party politics. As a result, control by the state government is largely soft and toothless.

Lambert Schönleitner (Grüne)

"We are talking about considerable sums of money from the state. The state also has a duty of supervision when it comes to housing subsidies. The Messequartier case raises a number of questions as to whether the state is sufficiently monitoring compliance with the guidelines and the purpose of the funding," agrees Werner Murgg. "We currently lack consistent transparency in the funding of non-profit housing developers in Styria. A core problem: the non-profit housing developers are still strongly influenced by and close to black and red party politics. As a result, control by the provincial government is largely soft and toothless," says Green Party spokesperson Lambert Schönleitner.

The Messequartier case raises a number of questions as to whether the state is sufficiently monitoring compliance with the guidelines and the purpose of the funding.

Werner Murgg (KPÖ)

Together they have commissioned an audit by the Federal Audit Office. And the Court apparently sees a need for action: "I can confirm that the Court of Audit is conducting an audit on the "Supervision of non-profit housing associations". The audit is already underway." However, it will be several months before there is a result.